Fee hike: Kaduna varsity denies shutting gates as students stage protest

The management of Kaduna State University (KASU) has dismissed claims in some quarters that it shut down the institution’s gates.

According to NAN, some students of the institution staged a protest on Monday over the alleged shutting down of the gates leading to the varsity.

NAN reported that earlier in the day, all gates into the university were shut with only staff and medical students were allowed entrance.

It added that some of the students had come to submit their final projects while others were in the school to defend their final year projects, but were all denied access.

The development had led to the barricade of the Tafawa Balewa Way by the students before they were later dispersed by heavily armed policemen, led by Samuel Ibrahim, an assistant superintendent.

The students were, however, said to have reconvened at the back gate through Marafa Estate and continued their protest by barricading all access roads leading to the university’s main entrance.

Khalil Adam, welfare director of the national association of arts students, said there was no official communication from the school management to explain why they were denied access to the university.

“We heard a rumour yesterday that the school has been shut down only for us to come to the institute this morning to find the gates closed,” he said.

“The security officers at the gate told us that they were asked to close the gate, and that only staff will be granted access.”

Also speaking, a final-year student of pharmaceutical science said she had come to defend her final project but was denied access to the school.

“We came to school this morning to defend our final project only to find the school gate shut and all efforts to convince the security official to grant us access failed. As it stands now, we don’t know our fate,” she said.

But in his reaction in a statement, Adamu Bargo, the varsity’s public relations officer, said it was not true that the institution shut down its gates.

“The Management of Kaduna State University wishes to inform staff, students and the general public to ignore the news being spread in the social media space regarding shutting down of the university,” the statement read.

“It is fake news in its entirety as well as the handiwork of mischief-makers, academic activities are in progress.

“Management urges everyone to carry on with their legitimate activities as it is partnering with security agencies in the state to ensure the safety of all and sundry.”

On his part, Abubakar Abdullahi, a member of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the institution, said that it was within the rights of the students to protest the increase in fees.

The varsity has been in the news since the state government increased the tuition fees of students from the range of N24,000 and N26,000 to N150,000 in April.